Pyridine, as well as some of its alkyl derivatives, is known in the flavor industry, namely for reconstituting coffee type aromatic compositions, or even meat type flavors. The situation is quite different in perfumery where the use of pyridines is far less documented.
Pyridine is described by S. Arctander [Perfume and Flavor Chemicals, Montclair, N.J. (USA), 1969, sec. 2776]as possessing an irritant, penetrating and diffusive odor, occasionally defined as disgusting, which, at high dilution, can reveal itself as being warm, burnt and very weakly tenacious.
Certain alkylated pyridines have been identified in natural origin products. Thus n-pentyl-pyridine has been identified in jasmine absolute from Egyptian origin [see Mostafa A. Nofah et al., Perfumer & Flavorist 6,24 (1982)], whereas 2-, 3- and 4-butyl-pyridine are components of spearmint essential oil [T. Tsuneya et al., Bioactive volatile compounds from Plants, ACS Symposium Series 525 (1992)].
Finally, 3-ethyl- and 4-methyl-3-ethyl-pyridine have been identified in jasmine essential oil by T. Toyoda et al. [Proceedings VII th International Essential Oil Congress, Kyoto, p. 473-76 (1979)]. To the best of our knowledge, there has been strictly no mention up to this day of the use of 3-(2,2,-dimethyl-propyl)-pyridine in perfumery, nor indeed of its occurrence in a natural product.